* * *
They met in a small tent, set aside for some of the troops’ more perishable goods. Narses was already there, perched on a sack. As soon as Toramana entered, he spoke.
“Tell me everything that was said. Word for word.”
In the minutes which followed, Toramana may not have actually repeated the entire conversation, word for word. But he came very close. Nanda Lal, had he been present, would have revised his estimate upward once again. The Ye-tai’s memory was as phenomenal as his intelligence.
When he was done, Narses issued a harsh, dry little laugh. ” ‘Allow me to advance as far as I may, in this world that is, and you need have no fear at all of the consequence.’ That’s a beautifully parsed sentence.”
Toramana’s shrug, as always, was a slight thing. “I know nothing about grammar. As anyone can see, I am a crude Ye-tai—not much more than a barbarian. But even as a child playing in the mud, I knew that the best way to lie is to tell the truth. Simply let he who hears the truth set his own boundaries to it. The boundaries, not the words themselves, are what make them a lie.”
Narses nodded, smiling in his humorless and reptilian way. “And that, also, is a beautifully crafted sentence.” The smile faded. His next words were spoken impassively.
“If the time comes—when the time comes—you will have to—”
Toramana cut him off with a quick, impatient wave of the hand. “Move quickly, decisively, and so forth.” He rose to his feet, with even greater agility than Nanda Lal had shown in his own tent. “Have no fear, Narses. You and I understand each other perfectly well.”
” ‘Ambition flows thicker still,’ ” the old eunuch quoted softly. ” ‘Like a glacier out of the mountains.’ ”
Again, Toramana made that quick, impatient gesture. “Poetry,” he snorted. “There is no poetry in ice grinding against mountains. I know. I have seen it. I was born in the Hindu Kush, Narses. And learned, while still a boy, that ice is the way of the world.”
He turned, stooped through the tent flap, and was gone. As silently as he came.
Chapter 21
CHARAX
Summer, 533 a.d.
“We thought we’d find you here,” said Eon.
“Where else?” snorted Ousanas.
Startled, Antonina tore her eyes away from the mare she was staring at, and turned her head toward the stable entrance. Eon and Ousanas were standing just inside the open doors, backlit by the late morning sunshine.
Antonina began to flush. Then, dropping her eyes, she began brushing pieces of hay off her gown. When she’d entered the stable earlier that morning, after Belisarius left to rejoin his army, she’d been paying little attention to fastidiousness. Even now, the effort stemmed more from habit than any real care for her appearance.
“Am I so predictable?” she murmured.
Ousanas grinned. “Every time Belisarius goes haring off on one of his expeditions, you spend half the next day staring at a horse. Practically a thing of legend, by now.”
Eon strode over to a nearby pile of hay and plumped himself down upon it. Clearly enough, the negusa nagast of Ethiopia was no more concerned with appearances than Antonina herself. He even spent a few seconds luxuriating in the sensation, for all the world like a carefree boy instead of the ruler of one of the world’s most powerful kingdoms.
“Been a long time,” he said cheerfully. Then, waving a hand: “Come, Ousanas! Why are you standing on dignity?”
Ousanas’ grin became a bit sardonic. “Horse food! No thank you.” He glared at the mare in the nearby stall. The inoffensive animal met his gaze placidly.
“Treacherous creatures,” proclaimed Ousanas. “As are they all. ‘Dumb beasts’—ha! I’m a hunter. Was, at least. So I know what wickedness lurks in the hearts of wild animals.”
He stalked over to another nearby stall—an empty one—and leaned his shoulder against a wooden upright. “And they are all wild, don’t think otherwise for a moment.” He bestowed the same sardonic grin on the pile of hay Antonina was sitting on. “I’d rather feed on the horse than use its own feed for a chair. More civilized.”